Glendronach 13 Year (2005), Distillery Exclusive Cask 1930
Whisky: Glendronach 13 Year (2005), Distillery Exclusive Cask 1930
Country/Region: Scotland/Highland
ABV: 60%
Cask: PX Puncheon
Age: 13 Years (Distilled 15 Dec. 2005)
Nose: Dried fruits and brown sugar, ribbons of caramel and cinnamon candies, spirited prickle and pepper; hints of tobacco, honey, and lacquered wood.
Palate: Full-bodied, oily and rich, sherry and wood, mildly astringent and drying, dried fruits and caramel, leather and lacquered wood, hints of tobacco and malty pastries, peppery toward the end with more oak and subtle cherry.
Finish: Medium-length and drying with dried fruits, wood, and brown sugar buns.
Score: 5-6 (76)
Mental Image: The Sherry-fiend Returns
Narrative & Notes: Look, if you love sherry bombs, you will undoubtedly love this more than I did. If you grabbed this as a handfill at the distillery, I have no doubt you will love this more than I did. Indeed, I am confident that if I had grabbed this as a handfill, I would love it more due to the emotional attachment of having been there and bottled it myself.
There is nothing wrong with any of that. I am just biased against malts like this; I do not like my whisky bludgeoned to death with the cask, but plenty of people do, and this was decidedly a whisky for them. I may find it all very same-same and boring. Still, there is a reason why Glendronach’s rebirth has attracted such a devoted following.
Overall, a real cask-driven affair and one of the spicier Glendronach I have had. A few drops of water tamed some of the pepper, bringing out an excellent oily quality but simplifying the flavors even further. Sure to please fans of the style, but not my cup of tea.
Image Credit: Whisky Hammer
About Glendronach
The history of Glendronach aptly illustrates the vagaries of fate and fortune, or misfortune, in the Scotch whisky industry. Founded in 1826, the distillery enjoyed early success under the leadership of James Allardice, but the operation ground to a halt in 1837 when the distillery burned to the ground with bankruptcy following in short order. However, due to the whisky's reputation, the distillery was rebuilt in 1852. In 1920, during a round of consolidation in the industry, William Grant and Sons purchased the distillery, selling it in 1967 to William Teacher and Sons. It then passed to Allied Distillers when it purchased Teacher’s in 1976.
By the 1990s, the distillery was showing its age, having only undergone minimal refurbishment and expansion over the last century. In 1996, Allied Distillers mothballed the distillery as it looked to reconfigure its Scotch whisky holdings. Glendronach reopened in 2002 but closed for refurbishment in 2005 as its coal-fired heating system was switched to steam. That same year, Pernod Ricard purchased Allied Domecq (Allied Distillers) but saw Glendronach as a surplus to their plans, so they off-loaded the distillery to the BenRiach Distillery Company in 2008. Brown-Forman then purchased that company in 2016 as it looked for ways to expand its investment in the Scotch whisky industry.
Billy Walker and the BenRaich group built the distillery’s modern reputation behind an impressive cask management program, especially the careful release of pre-mothball 90s stock. Beginning in 2009, they relaunched a core range of age statements, with many of the products being much older than the stated age due to the period in which the distillery was mothballed.
